Everything But Normal
by MariaBernal
Summary: Connect Three is taking a break to be normal for a while. Something Shane Gray is not too happy about. Yet, his constant bickering with Mitchie Torres isn't going to help much. Is it war..or love? Smitchie.
1. Welcome

"It's going to be so much fun. We'll get to do stuff like be late for class and awkwardly ask girls to dances and go to football games. Here's the best part! I could try out for the baseball team, an actual baseball team and stuff," fifteen year old Nate Gray rambled.

"Listen kid, you're a freshman. Jason's got a bigger shot at being the big shot senior on campus. It's not going to happen," Shane Gray said, rolling his eyes at his younger brothers words.

Jason shot a glare and Shane and nudged him in the ribs before turning back to Nate. "We'll be at every single one of your games," he said, giving him a bright smile making Nate's smile appear on his face.

Connect Three sat in silence for the rest of the ride. The news was everywhere. Connect Three was taking a break to be normal for a while. Something Shane Gray didn't like and he made sure that everyone around him knew that. To his surprise his brothers where ecstatic about bring normal and going to public high school.

He was _the _Shane Gray. Teen superstar. Teen superstars don't go to public school or be normal.

Sadly, he got out voted and all their plans were pushed back. Their tour was pushed back after Nate had prattled on about a great idea of their Spring tour being turned into the now highly anticipated School's Out! Tour. Something the label ate up as genius. He's thought it was stupid and pretty ridiculous.

It was their mother's idea to send them back to high school, something that excited both Jason and Nate. Jason was going to get to be a senior and Nate was going to get to experience high school. Even if it was just one for year.

Shane simply preferred to slack off in home school then in real school.

And to add insult to injury was when they were told that they wouldn't be staying in some elegant hotel or some huge house. Instead with a normal family of one of the record label executive. That just killed him. To go to school and be normal _and_ to live normally? That's when he pulled a diva fit. He obviously didn't get his way.

The limo came to a stop and Nate quickly climbed out of the vehicle and stood in awe of the sight before him. A spacious, yet quaint suburban home.

"Isn't it so cool?" Nate asked as he helped Jason get their bags out of the car, most belonging to Shane. "It's like in all the movies and stuff." he added.

Shane leaned against the black limousine as their manager went to greet the family. He snorted and turned to Nate, "Yeah..until a guy with a mask and a chainsaw show up,"

Jason frowned and threw a duffel bag at Shane. "Shut up and grab your bags," he said. Shane simply rolled his eyes and took another bag and followed Nate up the walk way to the house right away being greeted by a short brunette woman who hugged Nate tightly, going on and on about not seeing him since he was a baby.

This made him scoff. They were Connect Three, they were everywhere and everyone knew them. Nate kissed the woman's cheek and entered the house. No way was Shane going to do that, he simply didn't like to be touched. Not that he had a choice when Jason pushed him towards her. He reluctantly let the woman hug him. Jason hugged her next, towering over her.

"Thanks for letting us stay here Mrs. Torres," he said.

Mrs. Torres waved it off, "Call me Connie and it's nothing. It's nice to have some hombres in the house with Steve gone all the time,"

Shane snorted again and leaned towards Jason, "Cougar," he mumbled, a smirk playing on his lips. Jason narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "You're a jerk," he mouthed.

He rolled his eyes and dropped his bags in the same place Nate had. The kid had probably gone to explore the house. It seemed like he was more excited to get to live here than it was to play dozens of concerts for thousands of fans. Then again, he's child.

Mrs. Torres talked to their Uncle Brown for a minute before dismissing himself, not forgetting to tell them all..mostly Shane to be good and not give Mrs. Torres anything to worry about.

Of course Shane was always going to cause trouble. Unintentionally usually..but he always did.

"I hate to leave you guys since you just got here but I've got to head off to a catering gig. So explore the house and make yourself at home. My daughter should be home any minute now and she'll give you boys the grand tour," Connie said, scrambling around for her jacket and other things.

The boys nodded and tried to usher Connie out of the house before she would be late, thanking her for welcoming them into her home. Shane? He simply just leaned back and watched, he didn't want to be here and he wasn't going to thank her for it either.

"Well, she's nice," Jason said a smile plastered on his face.

"You say that now, you know. Before she kills us," Shane mocked.

Jason rolled his eyes, "You have got to stop being such a douche bag. She's nice,"

Suddenly the door opened and a petite, brunette girl entered the home, taking out her headphones when she noticed the guys. "Oh hey, you guys are here," she said.

"Okay, okay. You can scream now, you've got one minute," Shane said.

Mitchie rolled her eyes at his comment. She loved Connect Three, but no where near freak out kind of fan. But being the nice girl she was, she wasn't going to retaliate..just yet.

"I'm Mitchie, by the way," she introduced herself, smiling at the two other boys, "I'll show you guys to your rooms and you can settle in then we can maybe hang out or something," she added, going to the stairs and waving them over to follow her. "Where all on the same side of the house so if you guys ever need anything this is my room," Mitchie said, motioning over to a white door on their left covered with dozens of things. "And dinner is at seven but since my mom won't be home we'll order take out or something.

Next, she should Nate to his room which was right next door to hers and across the short hallways were Jason and Shane's. Nate and Jason thanked the young girl and went into their rooms to unpack and such.

"So are you like room service or something?" Shane asked, "Cause, I need my bags brought up,"

Mitchie scoffed and shook her head, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You're going to hell." she laughed, quickly turning on a heel and leaving to her own room.

* * *

_Keep or delete? Hope you liked it. Review?_


	2. First Day

"Jason, it's time to get up," Mitchie said, tapping on his door. Seconds later of hearing some light fumbling and a groan Jason opened the door. His usually straighted hair was in curls, making Mitchie giggle.

"Morning, thanks for the wake up call," Jason said, giving her a smile and disappearing back in his room.

Next, Mitchie crossed the hallway to Nate's room and knocked on the door. Surprisingly it opened right away and behind it was Nate already dressed and ready for school. The rest of them were still in pajamas.

"Someone is eager," Mitchie giggled.

Nate simply nodded, "I've been up for the past two hours,"

"You're really excited aren't you," Mitchie giggled, "Breakfast in like ten minutes." she added before going to the final door.

Shane's wake up call.

"Shane, time to wake up," Mitchie said, knocking on the door.

Nothing. She knocked on the door harder, hoping she wouldn't have to actually go in there and get him up.

Of course she had read the magazines. She was the most difficult for everything. And she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be the exception.

"Shane, get up," she said firmly.

"Go. Away," she heard from the other side.

"You have to get up or you're going to be late,"

"I said go away!"

Mitchie rolled her eyes and turned the door knob, letting herself into his room, beginning to flick on and off the light. "Get up,"

"Stop! You're going to give me a seizure or something," Shane groaned, putting his pillow over his head.

"Time to get up," Mitchie stated finally, exiting his room and leaving the lights on.

--

"Freshman hall is down this hall then down to the left. Go into room seven and that's your homeroom. If you need anything else, you can text me. I've got my phone on me at all time," Mitchie instructed.

"But you're not supposed to have phones during school," Nate replied.

"Some rules are meant to be broken, now get to class," Mitchie laughed,

"I love high school. Thanks Mitchie," Nate said, leaning up and kissing her cheek.

"Go learn stuff," Mitchie laughed, pushing Nate lightly down the hall.

Mitchie turned back around to the two other Gray's and sighed. She felt as if she was a mother sending her child off on thee first day of school. Only a bit more awkward.

"Jase-" Mitchie was cut off my two girls wearing cheerleader uniforms and huge smiles.

"Don't worry Mitchie, we'll get Jason to class," the blond said, looking up at Jason and wrapping her arm around him as the other girl did the same.

Mitchie nodded and waved at Jason as the two girls took him off to class.

"The cheerleaders actually know your name? That's a shocker," Shane said, a smirk on his lips.

Mitchie rolled her eyes and slung her bag over her shoulder, "Well I think the cheerleaders should know the captains name," She said, leading him to homeroom.

"Wait, _you're_ the captain of the cheerleaders. I don't believe you,"

Mitchie rolled her eyes once again and turned around to face him. "You don't have to believe anything I say. Just come to the football field after school,"

"But I don't want to go,"

"Well Gray. Seeing as I drove here, you kind of have to," Mitchie mocked, slipping into the classroom with Shane right behind her.

"Bitch," Shane muttered, slipping into the desk behind Mitchie.

Before Mitchie could sit down a boy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Mitchie to him, attaching his lips to hers. Shane, of course, found this annoying and pretty uncalled for. The rest of the class seemed to be amused with this. The only thing that did amuse him was seeing Mitchie trying to push him off.

"Drake, what do you think you're doing," Mitchie seethed, wiping her mouth.

"Kissing my girlfriend, that's what," he replied as soft as she did.

"Not in class," Mitchie said with a glare, causing the blond haired, who Shane declared a jock according to the letterman jacket.

"What was that all about?" Shane asked over Mitchie's shoulder as she sat down in front of him.

"It's none of your business," Mitchie answered curtly, turning back to the front of the room.

"Whatever," Shane mumbled. He was Shane Gray after all, all he needed to do was ask one of the girls gawking at him and they'd probably give him all the information he would need then some. He quickly grabbed a notebook and pen, tearing out a piece of paper and quickly scribbling a note and folding it, tossing it to a brunette near him and giving her a smirk.

--

"Sorry for having to drag you guys to practice," Mitchie apologized, as the four walked side by side to the football field.

"It's cool Mitchie, better than having to go and do homework. I forgot all about it." Jason said, dragging along with heavy backpack.

Mitchie laughed as they got onto the field and threw her backpack and gym bag at the base of the bleachers. "You guys could just like hang out on the bleachers. We're having a a short practice practice so it won't be long." she said before jogging off towards the hoard of girls that were stretching.

Shane and his brothers made their way to the top of the bleachers, looking out at the practicing football players and cheerleaders before reaching for something in his bag. Jason had taken out his books to begin his homework and Nate followed suit.

"So..apparently Mitchie's the most popular girl in school," Shane said aloud, getting the attention of his brothers. "Cheerleader, student body president, lead of the choir, in pretty much every musical, welcome committee, debate club, Spanish club and on the honor roll. The list goes on," he added.

"Are you like stalking her now?" Nate asked, continuing to work on his algebra homework.

Shane rolled his eyes and looked back down at his note. "And she's dating Drake Foreman. Captain of the football thugs," he finished.

"Sounds like she's a busy person," Nate said unenthusiastically, trying to concentrate on his work.

"Do you like her or something? You pretty much just stalked her," Jason pointed out.

"No! Of course not, I just thought I'd find out more about her.."

"Well, she's pretty, nice and stuff so when you stop lying and decide to ask here out, go ahead," Jason said.

"She's got a boyfriend Jase," Shane reminded.

"So you do like her," Nate piped with a smirk.

"If you don't want me to use my junior powers on your freshman ass, I suggest you shut up." Shane said, rolling his eyes. "I don't like her like that. Plus, she's not my type. She's all high school and I'm Hollywood."

* * *

_To the person who saved my story to continue it. Yeah. Please don't. Review?_


	3. Bearing It All

"Two, three, four! We're the eagles, watch us soar! Five, six, seven, eight! We came here to dominate!" the cheerleaders chorused, they're moves in perfect sync.

"That's enough for today girls, let's skip practice tomorrow. We'll do great on Friday," Mitchie announced, wiping her forehead, waving to the guys on the bleachers.

The Gray boys quickly, packed up their books and headed down from the top of the bleachers.

"How were those Mitchie?" a blond asked, a bright smile on her face.

Mitchie faked a smile and nodded, "The cheers as great Tess..awesome,"

"Thanks so much Mitchie! I'm glad you loved them. Well, I'll see you later," Tess dismissed herself, just as the boys approached Mitchie.

"Those were..." Nate began.

Mitchie sighed, grabbing her bags. "I know. They suck, but I don't have the heart to tell Tess that. She can be really sensitive sometimes,"

"But those were horrible," Shane blurted, earning a glare from the three.

"Tell me something I don't know," Mitchie groaned, starting off towards her car, the boys close by, "Our choreography is great, our formations are insanely good. But the calls and yells are terrible." she said, unlocking the silver Prius.

"You do know that you have Grammy nominated musicians and writers are your disposal right?" Jason asked, a grin playing at his lips.

"I could never ask you guys to do that and plus, it'd hurt Tess a whole lot and I just can't do that to her. But it means a whole lot that you would offer,"

"Well the offer still stands," Jason said, getting into the passenger seat.

"Thanks, you guys are seriously great," Mitchie grinned, starting up the car and pulling out of the student parking lot.

Shane smirked and pressed himself back against the seat, "You're welcome,"

Mitchie rolled here eyes and tried to concentrate on the road ahead of her. "I was talking about Jason."

"Sure you were,"

"Can it or I'll crash the car,"

"Aren't you just funny?"

"Down right hilarious,"

--

The teens soon arrived at the Torres house, heading straight into the kitchen. Something they all knew would become a habit pretty soon. It was already Mitchie's, the rest would follow suit.

"I'm gonna go ahead and take a shower, you guys can just chill, then we could like make dinner or something since my mom won't be home," Mitchie said, exiting the kitchen and heading upstairs to the bathroom.

Down in the kitchen the boys were still raiding the kitchen.

"So, I like this place. First day and I already got invited to a party and met so many cool people, it's like I'm popular or something," Jason said, grinning.

"I like it too. My teachers are really nice and so are the people. Normal is actually fun," Nate piped.

Shane rolled his eyes, of course he had expected his brothers to go all "Yay school!" but this was ridiculous. "Jason, it's only like that because you're famous. If you remember, you hated school. And Nate I'm not even going to start on you. I get that you guys are excited and all, but it's not always going to be great," Shane finished, getting up from the stool at the island upstairs, leaving behind his two dumbfounded and slightly hurt brothers.

He didn't mean to be so harsh, but they needed a reality check. Soon enough they would understand that high school was not as perfect as their first days had been. He was trying to protect them in a way.

Shane opened the door to his bedroom, only to find out that it wasn't his bedroom.

How did he know?

It could have been the steamy room. The toilet. The dead giveaway being a damp and nude Mitchie that was staring right back at him.

Seconds passed as the two stared back at each other, eyes wide with shock and embarrassment.

"Get out of here you perv!" Mitchie yelled, attempting to hide behind the shower curtain.

Shane quickly shook out of his daze, and shut the door. His face turning more and more red by the second.

This was embarrassing.

--

The four teenagers sat around the dining table, eating their spaghetti in silence. The only conversation being exchanged was between Nate and Jason to pass the bread sticks. Mitchie looked up from her plate, locking eyes with Shane, causing him to look back down.

They had not yet spoken since the shower incident from an hour ago. Barely looked at each. It was obviously awkward. Usually Shane would have made some jerkish remark. But he lived with her now, making it just that more uncomfortable.

Jason and Nate watched the twos behavior, exchanging glances and sensing that something was up between the two.

Jason cleared his throat and looked at everyone. "So.." he began, attempting to cut the tension in the dining room. "What's up?" he asked to no one in particular, trying to get some sort of conversation started between them.

A few minutes passed and still no one had made a comment about anything.

Nate groaned lightly and threw his fork softly, making the others flinch from the sudden clang of noise that he had caused.

"Why is no one saying anything?" Nate demanded.

Seconds passed and still no one had responded to Nate's question.

"Shane walked in on me getting out of the shower," Mitchie blurted, instantly covering her mouth.

Shocked, yet amused expression took over Nate and Jason's faces as Shane's appeared to be horrified. The few seconds of silence that followed were broken when Nate and Jason broke into fits of laughter. Shane and Mitchie simply sunk in their chairs, fierce blushes staining their faces.

"This is priceless," Jason laughed, trying to calm down for Shane and Mitchie's sake.

"It's not funny!" Mitchie exclaimed, wanting the humiliation to die down.

"Shut up you guys," Shane huffed.

"Okay, okay. No more laughing, but you guys will never live this down," Nate said, a final chuckle escaping his lips. "I'm done now,"

Mitchie rolled her eyes, "This stays at this table and no one finds out. Promise?"

The boys nodded in agreement, declaring it their little secret and joke. Mitchie sighed and leaned back in her chair, brushing away her bangs. Of all the things that could have happened this had to be one of them.

Shane rolled his eyes at the situation. Of course it still felt awkward, but he couldn't deny that he didn't like what he saw. He was a guy after all. Mitchie was practically perfect. Beautiful, popular and in his terms, banging.

She was perfection and he wanted perfection. And he knows that he can't have her.

Too bad for him he wasn't the kind of person to fight for things. She had a boyfriend and he was no manipulator. At least not in this department.

* * *

_I don't really know how I feel about this, I think I might have rushed the plot a bit but I promise to slow it down. I really want to thank everyone who has reviewed, they mean a lot to me. By the way, there is a poll in my profile so if you could check that out it'd be great._

_With love, Maria._


	4. An Idea?

Shane waited patiently outside of the bathroom, waiting for her to get out. Unlike yesterdays incident he had actually seen her enter the bathroom. He drummed his fingers against the way, rolling his eyes.

Yes. Shane was learning what it was like to share a bathroom with a girl. He didn't like it one bit. He would have said "Mitchie, you look hot all the time, get out of the bathroom now," but no way was that going to leave his lips.

"Finally," he mumbled as the door opened.

Mitchie scrunched up her nose when she saw him waiting outside, "Trying to take another peek?" she accused, crossing her arms over her, this time, very much clothed chest.

"Yes Mitchie, that's it. Exactly why I'm waiting outside a bathroom before school. Can you move now?" Shane asked, trying to move her out of the way.

Mitchie rolled her eyes and stayed but, obviously doing this to annoy him and it was definitely working. "I want an apology," she said firmly.

Shane scoffed and mimicked her stance, "It was an accident Mitchie. I didn't mean to walk in. I didn't know, simple mistake,"

First sign of the whole normal thing getting to Shane Gray. He was owning up to his mistakes, the regular him doesn't even notice his mistake. He needed to get out of here and he needed to get out quick.

He rolled his eyes and dropped his arms to his sides, "I'm sorry okay? It was an accident, now can I please finish getting ready for school?" he asked, trying to move her again.

Another sign? Actually wanting to get ready to school. He told himself it was just an excuse to get Mitchie to leave him alone. He bought that for sure. When he had finished prepping himself for the day he exited the small room, only to see Mitchie standing outside the door.

"What did I do this time Torres?" he asked.

"Nothing..surprisingly. But I guess that I have to apologize too. Jason and Nate wouldn't have found out if I hadn't blurted it out like that at dinner last night. It was like word vomit. So..sorry," Mitchie apologized, a small smile gracing her lips.

"So we're cool?" Shane asked.

Mitchie nodded her small smile growing into a full on grin. "We're good," she repeated, leaning in a for a hug but pulled away quickly, sticking her hand out towards him.

Shane hesitantly shook her hand. Something about her made him wonder, if she was a big fan. And they were living in the same house, meaning that at some point during her stay she was going to see him slightly indecent. But why did she not freak out or scream?

"We might want to hurry up, I told Drake I'd meet him before first period," Mitchie said.

And there it was. She had a boyfriend and apparently she wasn't going to flirt with some other guy. She was one of those faithful girls. To Shane's knowledge about the subject, most from which he acquired from books and cliche movies. The faithful girl always got hurt.

Wait, why did he care? What did it matter to him? Was it because he was actually jealous? Of course not. He was Shane Gray, he could get anyone he wanted.

Just not her.

A new experience for him and this..he did not like.

Shane nodded and followed her down the stairs, waiting for the other before they could head to school.

--

_BANG!_

Yes. The Shane Adam Gray, just got pushed into a wall of lockers and yes he was getting laughed at when he didn't do anything funny.

It was safe to say that he wasn't very popular as he thought he would be. His first couple of days here with his 'I'm better than you all' attitude did not help him one bit. A foreign feeling to him. Shane had expected to be treated like a king, not some regular high school loser.

"Okay..whatever," Shane mumbled to himself, straighting himself out and readjusting his book bag on his shoulder.

Could this have been the sign of a bad day? No way. He hadn't had a bad day and he was not going to start.

Shane looked up and hey, the one who laughs the loudest..is the idiot. Drake and the rest of the football thugs were the ones that pushed him. Mostly Drake, but the rest were accomplices.

"_I expected this, jealous boyfriend..I love it," _he thought, chuckling to himself, _"Oh well, what's the worst they could do? I don't have any of them in my classes. I'm as good as golden,"_

--

_Lunch hour.._

Shane sat in between his brothers at the round table in the cafeteria, still holding an ice pack to his face. Mitchie approached the table, of course in her usual royal blue and gold cheer leading uniform.

"Hey guys..whoa, what happened to you?" Mitchie asked, sitting down as setting her lunch down.

"I walked into a doorknob..a doorknob named Drake," Shane grumbled, readjusting the pack on the side of his face, "Long story short, he 'accidentally' hit me during gym," he explained.

"Oh..well, it was an accident," Mitchie said, nodding slightly at her own words.

"With his fist?" Shane added. He was just glad that he was able to see Drake before he hit him, during warm ups and dodge it, only getting hit on the side of his face instead of getting a black eye or something.

"Oh come on, Drake would hurt a fly. Let alone punch someone in the face," Mitchie defended.

Shane rolled his eyes and scoffed, "That guy has been giving me dirty looks since the first day I got here. He wants to kick my ass, this place is hell. I hate it,"

"Oh my gosh Shane, believe it or not. But not everything is about you and not everyone is out to get you. If you were nicer to people and at least attempted to fit in and make friends then it wouldn't be hell," Mitchie snapped, grabbing her things and leaving the table.

"Do you see what you do Shane?" Jason said, shaking his head, "How is it possible that even you can make one of the happiest people angry?"

"Her boyfriend is a douche bag and he hit me," Shane reminded, "Why is she on his side?"

Nate rolled his eyes and picked at his lunch, "You're not exactly her favorite person Shane."

"Then how do I make her like me?" Shane asked, biting his lip, "I mean, you know. Not hate me,"

So Shane did like her, even if it was just a little bit. Yet apparently she didn't like him very much.

"I don't know Shane, try to get into the same things as she is. Common interests or something," Jason suggested.

"You want me to be a cheerleader?"

"No you idiot, other things you know, like choir. You're a singer, put two and two together," Nate said.

"But the choir stuff doesn't start till later in the year, what do I do until then?" Shane asked.

"You like this girl, you figure it out. Just don't do anything stupid. I'll see you guys later at the pep rally or something I've got to ask my teachers some stuff," Nate said, dismissing himself.

_Pep rally.._ that just might have gave Shane an idea.

* * *

_Wow, thanks for all the support on the story you guys are all amazing. Review?_


	5. Once A Cheater, Never A Cheater

One thing that annoyed Shane was false spirit. And he could tell he was about to suffocate under it as soon as he entered the crowded gymnasium. After all, everyone here could really care less whether they won or lost the football game. From what he had heard, the 'mighty Eagles' hadn't won a game since the season started. Or the season before that.

_This is going to be so lame.._ he thought as he slowly made his way through the crowded hall along with everyone else. The only good thing that came out of this was he got out of his boring Chemistry class and he could just sit back and relax.

To Shane surprise, as soon as he entered the gym he was greeted by the loud roaring from the crowd. Sadly thought, it wasn't for him. But for the game? He could have possibly been wrong, he had been mistaken a lot since he got here.

He pushed the thoughts away when he saw his brothers and made his way over to them. "Hey," he greeted, taking a seat next to Nate on the bleachers. He received smiles from his brothers. Nate had opened his mouth to probably greet him only to be cut of by a girl's voice.

"H-hi Nate. I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to sit by me," the curly haired girl said shyly.

A blush tinted Nate's cheeks at the question as he nodded and stood up and followed the girl up the bleachers to get lost in the crowd of student.

"We've been here for how long and Nate's already got a little girlfriend," Shane mused, looking over at Jason who wasn't in his seat anymore.

"Jay-man! Get up here!" was called by a group of people that Jason was going up to in the bleachers, leaving Shane. Alone.

"Perfect," he muttered, resting his chin on top of his hand.

Shane groaned as the band started to play, the out of time drums and untuned instruments quickly getting on his nerves.

"Alright Eagles, today is the big day!" the football coach said into the microphone set in the middle of the gym. No reaction was given to this of course, as everyone continued to talk amongst themselves.

Shane sighed and scanned through the place, spotting Mitchie standing with all the cheerleaders only a little bit aways from him. Naturally, after what had happened during lunch he felt guilty. He waved, catching Mitchie's attention but only getting a cold look back.

"Students of Calden High. I bring out, the Eagles!" At this point Shane had expected everyone to break into cheering, making the boos very unexpected, couldn't say that it didn't make him chuckle though.

The team droned on and on about team work and dedication and hard practices and Shane had to fight to not fall asleep. He thought that these thing were supposed to be eventful, fun and full of energy. Senior bingo was more entertaining. Senior citizen, that is.

Soon enough, Shane had enough of this crap. He stood and but he didn't leave the gym. Shane being the over cocky person he was walked right up to the team and moved over to the microphone, pushing Drake away.

Now this got everyone's attention. Whispers beginning to erupt through the room.

"Uh. Hey, I'm Shane Gray. Obviously and I've noticed something over the past couple of days," Shane said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

He hadn't even noticed Mitchie was now beside him. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I have no idea."

"Go on Gray," Drake butted in, moving Mitchie out of the way and giving Shane a nasty look.

Shane swallowed hard and turned back to the crowd, naturally getting cocky again. He was a musician after all, this is what he does.

"Your moral is crap. There might be a slight chance that we could actually win." Shane said, earning a snort from Mitchie. "So come on. Are we going to win?" he asked, expecting at least a small reaction from the students but none came. "I said..Are we going to win?"

"Yeah!" Mitchie shouted beside him, surprising Shane that she was actually helping him not look like a complete loser in front of the whole student body.

"Alright, are we going to win?" Shane asked again, a grin on his face when more people reacted. Soon enough people were chanting.

"How did you do that? No one ever gets this excited," Mitchie asked.

"I honestly have no clue," Shane laughed, pushing Mitchie along as everyone started to go back to their classes.

--

"Knock, knock," Mitchie said, knocking on Shane's half open door.

Shane tossed the jacket he had selected to wear for the night on his bed and looked over at Mitchie, unsure of why she was speaking to him after what had happened early in the day. "Oh, hey. Something up?" he asked, figuring that, that was the only reason she was actually speaking to him.

"I just wanted to apologize for being a jerk today at lunch. I was completely out of line. So, I'm sorry,"

"It's nothing. No harm, no foul and I don't bruise easily and neither does my pride," Shane chuckled.

Mitchie giggled and pushing him playfully. "Oh, and can I get some help with these. They're a real pain." Mitchie said, holding out two yellow and blue hair ribbons.

Shane nodded and took them from her, spinning her around. "So, what you did at the pep rally was pretty cool."

"I actually owe you for that. If it wasn't for you. I would have looked like such an idiot up there." he said, placing his hands on her shoulders as he finished tying the ribbons onto her ponytail.

"I'm pretty sure you would have made an idiot out of yourself either way." Mitchie laughed, holding out a stick of eye liner and handing it to Shane, "Could you write a forty-two on my cheek? I'd do it myself but it would come out horrible or as a twenty-four," she laughed.

Shane smiled meekly, opening up the pencil and placing a hand on her cheek as he wrote on on the other. "So what's with the number?" he asked, making sure it was perfect.

"It's Drake's number. You know, like on the jerseys. It's just kinda like showing extra support,"

"You mean like favorites."

"Seeing as he is my boyfriend, sort of."

Shane pressed his lips together, finishing up the numbers on her face. He would never, ever admit that he was even the tiniest bit jealous over some normal guy who had a beautiful, witty, but _normal_ girlfriend.

"Right. So, the guys are waiting for us outside and the game starts in a few. Don't want to be late," Shane said, grabbing his jacket off the bed and heading for the stairs.

"Shane. Wait," Mitchie called after him, making him turn around before he took the first steps down. "Did I do something or what. Like on minute we'll be cool then you'll be all whatever,"

"I just thought we should get going. I apologize for making you think otherwise,"

"Oh..right. Guess we should go then." Mitchie said, the slightest smile lighting up her face as she brushed past Shane and continued down the stairs.

--

"_OOH!_" that was the sound that had left the mouth of many people as number forty-two got piled by four players decked in red and white.

Of course, Shane was snickering at this.

"I can't believe we're losing," Mitchie said up at Shane who was leaning against the railing of the metal bleachers and having little small conversations with Mitchie when the time arose.

"Look on the bright side. The game is barely an hour in. Maybe by some chance they'll make a comeback."

Mitchie couldn't help but laugh at his words, "You really have no idea. We're going to get killed out there and you know it,"

"Of course I know that. I was trying to be nice,"

"Nice is a good look for you," Mitchie said, wrapping her arms around herself as a cold breeze blew. By instinct Shane had shed his signature leather jacket and held it down for her. Luckily, he's worn a long sleeve on the chilly night.

Mitchie took the jacket and smiled up at him. "Thanks," she said, slipping on the black jacket over her blue and yellow uniform.

Shane returned the smile and admired at how she looked in his jacket, the sleeves were a bit long but she had managed. Shane watched as she went back to the group of cheerleaders all wearing the jackets that they were given, making Mitchie seem out of place in the see of blue with Shane's black jacket on.

"Bad move Shane," Jason said from beside him, making Shane turn his head.

"Hey to you too.."

"You do know she's got a boyfriend Shane, you have to stop."

"She was cold, I gave her my jacket. It's no big deal, it's not like I'm pinning her down to the ground and making out with her in front of her boyfriend, he apparently would rather pin down other guys on the field," he chuckled at his own rude remark.

"I think she likes you too," Nate's voice sounded from Shane's right side.

"Dude, where are you guys coming from," Shane asked, hoping to move off the topic.

"Well it's true. You like her and it's really obvious by the way, and she must like you too 'cause she took your jacket when hers is hanging out of her cheer bag," Nate said, taking a sip from his steaming hot chocolate.

Shane rolled his eyes, "One. I don't like her like that and two she probably just forgot she had her jacket with her,"

"Yeah Shane. You keep thinking that," Jason said, shaking his head and placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.

--

Mitchie counted off as the cheerleaders began a short routine just to get the crowd motivated, either way it would have been useless seeing as they were losing sixty-three to seven. She had stopped halfway through the routine when she noticed him mocking the moves, getting odd looks from the rest of the squad.

After the mess of routine Mitchie and the rest of the squad were standing by the sidelines, praying that the team would score at least once more before the game ended.

"You know Mitch, when Drake finds out that you and Shane Gray have been flirting non-stop he's going to flip," Tess said.

Mitchie gave her a curious look, "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"It's plain to see, really. Don't play coy, just wait till Drake sees you with Shane's jacket," Tess said, rolling her eyes and going to the other small cluster of girls.

This left Mitchie speechless. One of the reason being that Tess had just given her attitude. Or that people were actually thinking that there was something between Shane and herself.

Was there? No. There couldn't possibly be something. Sure, he was attractive, sometimes a bit of a jerk but really nice and funny. _Oh, stop it Mitchie!_ She mentally scolded herself.

Mitchie walked over to where all the girls had piled their cheer bags and took off Shane's jacket before picking up her own and slipping it on.

If there was one thing Mitchie wasn't, it was a cheater and a bad girlfriend.

* * *

_Sorry that it has taken such a long time to update. My muse got punched in the face which was no good. I'm actually very proud of this chapter to be perfectly honest. I would really love if you left a review, they're extremely uplifting that people like it enough to comment it. I also have a story that I am co-writing with **xx-juliaaa **and **TurnUpTheMusic-x **called **Pure Charm** located in Julia's profile so if you could check that out, it'd mean the word._

_Once again, thank you all for the lovely reviews, but do you mind leaving another? :]_

_x. Maria._


	6. Unless They Look Like Mick Jagger

"_I'm talking - pedicure on our toes, toes. Trying on all our clothes, clothes. Boys blowing up our phones, phones." _blasted through the house. It had started off pretty soft but just kept getting louder and louder. This, of course, made Shane groan.

It was Saturday and not even noon yet. Shane couldn't even remember the last time he had slept this late and he wanted to stay in bed as long as he could. But who ever was blasting music obviously didn't agree with his little plan.

He pulled the covers off and sat up. Just sat there, glaring at the door across the hallway, of which was open. Why his door was open, he didn't know. But Shane now knew where the source of music was coming and he was going to murder Mitchie.

Shane reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and across the hall, a small smile forming on his lips at what he saw. Mitchie stood on her bed, jumping around in time with the thumping bass of the music with her signature pom poms in hand.

He leaned against the door frame, watching her being the liveliest he'd ever seen her. Her hair flew around and her movements showed off exactly what he wanted to see.

"_Don't stop, make it pop. DJ, blow my speakers up tonight, I'mma fight_—Shane!" Mitchie exclaimed, a blush taking over her cheeks, and she dropped her pom poms and jumped off the bed and grabbed her stereo remote, muting the music.

Shane smirked, clapping as he pushed himself off the door frame. Mitchie's blushed deepened. She usually had no shame when it came to these kinds of things. Her mom had walked in on her doing the same thing more than once. But it wasn't everyday, that Shane Gray would walk into her bedroom and witness her being silly.

"Wh-what are you doing in here?" she asked as she watched him enter her room and take a good look at her room.

"I kind of live across the hall. You woke me up, then again. I'm sure you woke people down the street up," he teased.

Mitchie laughed it off and shrugged slightly, a devilish grin on her lips. She pressed a button on her remote and the music blasted once again. Mitchie laughed as she took Shane's hand in hers and pulled him up onto the bed.

"_But we kick them to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger_," Mitchie sang along, messing up Shane's already unkempt bed hair.

Shane laughed pushing the hair in front of his face away. Mitchie took his hands in hers once again, determined to make him dance along as she did. Shane was having too much fun to care about anything else and gave in, dancing along with her.

After a few seconds of dancing and laughing Shane's foot got wound up in the bed sheets making him trip and land on top of Mitchie on the bed. Mitchie looked up at Shane, smiling weakly and hesitantly moving his long hair from in front of his eyes. Shane closed his eyes as her fingertips made contact with his forehead. A few seconds passed until they both realized what they were doing, or at least about to do.

Shane got off of her and got up from the bed. Mitchie followed suit and shut off the music. It was safe the say that the situation was nothing less than awkward. Mitchie sighed softly and walked to her desk, pulling out Shane's jacket from her cheer bag. "Here, I forgot to give this back to you last night," she said, holding it out for him to take.

Shane simply shook his head and moved it back towards her, "Keep it, wear it. Sell it online. I've got more," he said, genuinely wanting her to keep his favorite jacket.

"I can't, it's yours," she said, giving it to him.

Shane sighed and took the jacket from her, walking around her and wrapping it around her shoulders. "It's yours. End of story," he said, smiling lightly.

Mitchie looked over her shoulder and returned the smile, "Thanks," she whispered, figuring that she wouldn't be able to say no to him. She shrugged off the jacket and rested it on her desk chair before leaning back against her desk.

"We should probably get the guys up and get some breakfast..er, lunch," Shane said, finding it odd that his brothers were still asleep since they were the early risers.

"It's just gonna be us today. My mom had a catering gig out of town and she was short a couple of servers so Nate and Jason offered to help her out for the day," Mitchie explained, leading Shane out of her room and to the kitchen where she hopped onto the counter.

Shane nodded and followed close behind her and leaned against the counter next to her. "So..do you know how to cook?" he asked, his question quickly followed by a growl from his stomach.

"This is going to sound really bad coming from a caterers daughter. But all I know how to make is microwavable sausage and pancakes from a box," Mitchie laughed.

Shane chuckled and nudged her slightly, "Let's make some then," he said, looking over her.

Mitchie nodded in agreement and hopped off the counter and opened up the cupboards, looking for the pancake mix. She pursued her lips when she couldn't find any but ended up taking out the bag of flour. "Looks like we're making them from scratch, my mom probably has a recipe somewhere around here," she said, opening a box of family recipes.

"I've never made anything out of scratch. I barely can make toast correctly, but I'm willing to give it a shot," Shane said in hopes of being able to impress the girl. He was a quickly study and would be showing off what he did know.

"Aha! Found it. We're about to make the world's greatest chocolate chip pancakes," Mitchie said excitedly, opening up the cupboards once again to get all the things they needed and set them all on the counter.

"Alright, where do we start?" Shane asked, putting his hands together.

"We mix the dry stuff together," Mitchie said, almost in a questioning tone. "I'll handle this, you get the wet things together," Mitchie said, pouring flour into a bowl after handing Shane the recipe card.

Shane nodded and set off for the fridge, opening it up to grab a few eggs and the few other things they needed. He placed them next to Mitchie and grabbed his own bowl and cracked the eggs, careful to not get any of the shells in.

A short while later, each teen was stirring their own bowl of ingredients. "Hey, could you get the griddle out while I mix these two together?" Mitchie asked, using her spoon to point out where it was, accidentally flicking the white powder onto him.

Mitchie laughed as Shane attempted to dust off the flour off, when it proved useless; Shane didn't hesitate to throw some of the egg combination at her. Mitchie gasped when the gooey mess made contact with the side of her face. "You jerk!" Mitchie yelled, taking a handful of flour and trying her best to get a head shot, of course, succeeding. Not even two seconds passed before they were full on throwing their concoctions at each other.

Once they had both calmed down and stopped throwing things at each other, they sat on the now white ground, a bag of chocolate chips sitting in between them. "So..that was fun." Shane said, nodding at his own words and popping a few chocolate chips into his mouth.

"Yeah. But now we're both..we'll I'm gross now," Mitchie stated, wiping the hardening flour from her cheek, "And we still have no food,"

"We could go to the food court at the mall.." Shane suggested, getting up off the floor and holding out his hand to help Mitchie up.

"Why didn't we just do that to begin with?" Mitchie laughed, getting up with Shane's help.

"Because. We're really, really stupid," Shane chuckled.

--

"What about this one?" Mitchie asked, holding a pale green baby doll shirt up to her chest.

Shane groaned, dropping several shopping bags on the ground of the boutique. "Mitchie, food. Now," Shane whined, clutching his stomach for dramatic effect.

Mitchie rolled her eyes and grabbed the same shirt in different colors, "Then help me choose," she said, showing the different selections of tops.

"Okay, okay. Uh, the red one," Shane chose.

"Why this one?" Mitchie asked, examining it closely.

"Well, um. It makes your hair and eyes look darker and really pretty looking," he mumbled, causing Mitchie to blush slightly.

"Red it is then," Mitchie smiled, picking up some of the many shopping bags that belonged to Shane and herself and headed towards to check out.

Shane followed a bit behind, his eyes following her curves. He averted his eyes when he noticed what he was doing. He wasn't supposed to e so hung up on some girl, one that had a boyfriend. But she wasn't just some girl. Mitchie was _his_ girl. She was sweet with just the right amount of kick. It was as if he was fire and she was ice. So different.

But they went together.

Shane felt Mitchie's arm wrap around her own as she pulled him out of the shop with an extra shopping bag in tow. "Time for food," Mitchie said cheerfully as she headed towards the food court. Shane looked down at her, a bit surprised. Not that he was going to complain. He wanted this, just not like, _this. _But he still didn't hesitate to drape his arm over her shoulders.

"Finally. I forgot about how much girls like to shop," he chuckled, showing the bags in his hand to prove his point.

"I don't shop that much..just when I've got stuff on my mind," Mitchie said, shrugging slightly, "So what do you want to eat. I'm thinking pizza,"

Shane pressed his lips together into a line, wanting to know what was on her mind. But he figured she wouldn't tell him and decided to no venture into what could be a possible argument. "Pizza sounds good," he agreed.

They two had stopped walking when Mitchie's phone began to ring. She looked down at the small screen and bit her lip before silencing the call. "Who was it?" Shane asked, even though it was a bit nosy. Mitchie shrugged her shoulders and smiled up at him, "It was no one," she responded, pulling him into the line in front of the pizza place.

Shane returned the smile and turned to the counter and ordered for the both of them, paying for both of their food before Mitchie would stop him.

Mitchie sent him a playful glare and grabbed all the bags and went to find them both a table when she felt her phone vibrate. She took a seat before getting her phone out once again and pursing her lips at the sender.

_Wtf? Why didn't you answer your phone. Whatever, we're hanging out in a bit. Pick you up in five – Drake_

Mitchie sighed, before beginning to reply to the message, hesitant to do so.

_Not today, I'm with Shane – Mitchie_

"Alright. Time to chow down," Shane said, setting the pizza and two drinks down on the table and sitting down.

Mitchie smiled up at him, breaking off a slice and taking a bite before her phone buzzed again.

_What? Why are you with him. I don't want you around him. - Drake_

Mitchie rolled her eyes at the message and turn off her phone, shutting it off and tossing it into one of the shopping bags. Mitchie took a bite of her pizza and looked back up at Shane who was staring at her intently. "What?"

"Boyfriend?" he guessed, receiving a nod from Mitchie.

Shane picked off the toppings from his pizza, hiding that fact that he was _actually_ a bit hurt. He internally groaned, wishing he had never met her or come to this stupid place. He would have much rather been an intolerable jerk then be some crushing loser.

"Why him?" Shane asked suddenly, getting a quizzical look from Mitchie, "What do you mean?" she responded.

"Why are you with Drake. I mean, he's jerk and he's rude and all this stuff that you aren't. So why be with him? What's so special about him?" _he's not me.._

Mitchie looked down at the table and sighed, she honestly didn't have a clue. Sure, she was happy. Sort of. So what if he wasn't everything she had hoped for in a boyfriend, but she had managed. "Shane, can we please not talk about this right now?" she asked, giving him a look with pleading eyes.

Shane nodded and decided to simply stay away from the subject, he now had to admit that it actually _hurt._ And he had no idea why. Part of him simply wanted to leave this damn town and never come back, he was happy..or at least content with his rockstar life. Here, he was absent mindedly fighting for something he couldn't have. "Ok..well. What's up with the million things you've got going on. You're in everything, you might as well name the things you aren't in at school,"

Mitchie shrugged, swirling her straw around in her drink. "I really don't know. I guess, I didn't want to get lost in high school. I want everyone to know me, you know. Sort of like how you do press for your Cd's and stuff. You want everyone to know,"

"Wow, I never noticed how much they could be alike. Eh, I'll stick to Hollywood, less chick drama and studying,"

"I wish it was that easy to choose. You get to go back and I'll be stuck here for the rest of my life," Mitchie said, shrugging slightly.

"Mitch, you're smart and you're widely talented and you seriously think you're going to stay here? You'll be one of the first ones out," he assured her.

Mitchie smiled weakly, grateful that his opinion on her future had a bright outlook. "You're actually, really sweet," Shane chuckled, shooting her a small smirk. "I try,"

"And you're also sort of a jerk sometimes,"

"And you still love it."

* * *

_So I was up till four AM writing this, and it's one of my favorite chapters to be honest. Apparently, the site wasn't working correctly, which is a relief to me since I thought people just didn't like it. Thanks to those who read and reviewed. Next chapter at 75 reviews? :D I would really appreciate it._

_x, Maria._


	7. You're Tacky, And I Hate You

"Did you hear about it?..yeah she totally did."

"You're joking! Was she high?"

"Like I know, I report not observe. Tess Tyler doesn't do her own dirty work,"

Mitchie has wished she had came into class just a few minutes earlier, she wouldn't be wondering what Tess and a few other girls from the cheerleading team were conversing about. She hated gossip, but when it seemed like this and all eyes turned on her when she walked in.

She kind of got a clue who they were talking about, and she didn't like it one bit. Mitchie bit her lip and set her messenger bag on the back of her desk chair and almost sat down when Tess pulled her arm and led her out of the classroom.

"Whoa, where are we going? We're going to be late for class," Mitchie said, trying to yank out her arm out of Tess' hold, looking back to see half the cheer squad following them.

Tess didn't say a word until everyone had reached the girl's bathroom and the last girl locked the door behind her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mitchie asked, finally getting her forearm out of Tess' grip.

"Nice shirt Mitchie, where'd you get? Better question; who were you with when you got it?" Tess said in a rude tone.

Mitchie looked down at the red shirt Shane had picked out for her that weekend, "I'll ask you again, what is going on. We're going to get in trouble,"

Tess rolled her eyes and pushed Mitchie back against the wall, "Listen, _captain._ You need to stop going around with Shane. You've got a boyfriend remember? One that was definetly not happy to be ditched for Shane Gray,"

This made Mitchie laugh, mainly because of what Shane would say in this situation, _"Who wouldn't ditch their boyfriend for Shane Gray?"_

Mitchie was pulled out of her thoughts by getting thrown against the wall again, hurting more now that she was in close contact. Mitchie pursed her lips and didn't hesitate to push the blond back. "What is your deal?" Mitchie asked.

"You're a two timing cheerwhore Torres," Tess spat.

Mitchie's jaw instantly dropped at the girl's words, instantly slamming the girl against a sink. "If you ever.._ever_ say anything about me again. I swear Tyler, that I will personally kick your ass _and_ kick you off the squad. You can sit with the rest of the cheerleader rejects," Mitchie said sharply.

The rest of the girls let out a synchronized gasp at the mentions of being kicked of the squad. Mitchie let Tess go and turned to the rest of the girls, "That goes for the rest of you," Mitchie warned, "I am your captain and you respect me or you are not on my squad at all." she finished, glaring at all the girls before pushing past them and leaving the bathroom.

She really had no clue what just happened, but she knew this wasn't going to be the late time it would happen.

"Hey Mitchie," a familiar voice said, pulling at Mitchie's arm as she rounded a corner.

Mitchie jumped at the contact and the pain now in her arm she had received from Tess. She looked up to see Shane.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's up with you?" Shane asked her, letting his fingers brush against her cheek, making Mitchie notice that she was crying, but had no idea why.

"Nothing," Mitchie said, wiping her eyes, "What are you doing out of class?" she asked, changing the topic.

"Uh..ditching," Shane said, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Are you insane? You just can't ditch like that,"

"Oh, I know. That's why you're coming with me," Shane said, holding up Mitchie's messenger bag.

"No, no, no. I have never ditched and I'm not going to begin."

Shane shook his head and begin to usher Mitchie towards to exit of the school. "I saw those girls drag you out of homeroom and now you're crying Mitch, I'm not letting you stay in this place,"

Mitchie shrugged, an idea quickly popping into her head, making a sly grin form on her lips. "Let's go," Mitchie exclaimed, now pulling Shane out of the school, "But we gotta be back before school lets out. I've got cheer practice, and I wanna take you up on your guys' little offer,"

--

"Okay girls! Bring it in," Mitchie said, standing by the bleachers clad in her cheer shorts and shirt.

The squad quickly huddled up near Mitchie, the three Gray boys watching from the bleachers. "What is she gonna do?" Jason asked, noticing the look on Mitchie's face as she pulled out a bundle of papers and started handing each girl one.

"Oh nothing, Mitchie grew a spine sometime in between first hour and now," Shane chuckled.

"What have you done to the poor girl?" Nate asked, sitting back as if to enjoy the show.

"What are these?" Tess asked, reading the paper.

"These are our new cheers," Mitchie said, handing out the last of them.

Tess crossed her arms over her chest and as if on cue stuck out her hip. "What about my cheers?" she asked pointedly.

"Oh yeah about those..." Mitchie trailed off, looking over at Shane who gave her a single nod. "They sucked,"

"Excuse me?" Tess exclaimed.

"Oh..you're excused, from my squad. You've been kicked off my squad for insubordination. Throw in your pom poms. You're fucking done,"

Shane's eyes widened at what had left Mitchie's mouth, causing him to jump up and quickly run to her side and pull her away. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking charge, she wanted to play dirty. Then we're gonna play dirty," Mitchie said, looking back over at the girls who still stood in shock. "Plus it felt really cool," Mitchie laughed, hugging Shane. "I owe it all to you, you've got no clue how annoying she was."

"Well, if everything is good-OW!" Shane exclaimed as something hard hit him in the back, turning around and seeing the offending football behind him and something Mitchie must have missed, a smirk on Drake face.

"You go back to your girls, don't kick off any more," Shane teased, picking up the football and waving his brothers over, starting off to the empty end of the field. "Up for some football?" he asked them once they had caught up, tossing the ball to Nate.

--

"_Coming back from some more? Well, come on, come on we'll rock your world!" _the squad chorused.

"Alright, that's all for today. Practice on Wednesday, skip tomorrow," Mitchie said, dismissing the girls.

Mitchie grabbed her bag and headed over to where the boys were playing football, seeing Shane being talked to by the football coach. _"What did he do this time?" _Mitchie internally groaned, hoping nothing had happened while she wasn't watching.

Before she could get there the coach patted Shane's shoulder and left, making Mitchie raise an eyebrow. "What was that all about?" Mitchie asked, looking at Shane.

"I..I think I just joined the football team,"

* * *

_A review for a bad day..week..month? Anyways, my birthday is on December first and I'm finally turning sixteen. Which means I have been writing for fanfiction for two years; since I was fourteen. :D Huge difference from then and now right? Thanks to all those that read and reviewed the last chapter. Next chapter at eighty-five reviews._

_x, Maria._


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